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What classic system will hold value better?


  

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  1. 1. Which system will hold and appreciate in value more?

    • Apple //e
    • Gateway 2000 486DX2-50

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Which typical system might retain and appreciate in value more?

 

Apple //e (a typical configuration)

Micromodem with microcoupler

Sider 10 meg

Graphics tablet

Epson MX-80

Mockingboard

128k/80col expansion

Amdek 300 monitor

Disk ][ drives

Parallel Serial cards

Clock card

Transwarp

Applecat II modem(complete)

Z80 card

Joystick

Somewhat complete documentation

Perhaps some other peripherals from the era.

 

or

 

A nicely kept 486DX2-50 from Gateway 2000.

256k cache

212MB WD Caviar disk

345MB WD Caviar disk

1.6GB WD Caviar disk

8MB on board

8MB on custom expansion slot card

5.25 and 3.5 drives

Parallel, 2x serial, floppy and ide interface

Secondary ide card

STB Evolution 1MB 16.7 16 bit cirrus logic based video card

Soundblaster 16 with ASP chip and waveblaster daughtercard

Creative 1x CD rom

Practical Peripherals 14.4 internal modem

Secondary Parallel port

Desktop case

Iomega Zip disk with 10 disks

HP 560 deskjet & Epson MX-80

Snappy video digitizer

CH flightstick 2 axis

Micronics gemini baby-at mobo

Small cpu fan

Weitek co-processor (but not installed)

Extra game port card (not installed)

complete documentation and advert brochures for system and all parts

CrystalScan monitor (in-op, definitely needs recapping, but otherwise fine)

AnyKey 124 programmable keyboard

Win 3.1 and Dos 6.22 manuals and disks.

 

It has been bought to my attention several times that the 80486 might have much better value today. Not because of the speed or compatibility with software, but because these DIY gold recyclers and cash-4-gold operations are melting down tons upon tons of classic hardware; thus making the 486 a fast-coming-rare beast.

 

Secondly, the proponents and people who would find the Apple 2 series stuff valuable are dying off and the young crowd is just not into retrocomputing.

Edited by Keatah
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It surprises me. Because, until I heard the gold recycling thing I always thought the 486's were numerous and piles of junk. The reverse may be true.

 

The 486 I described is my own. And I was thinking of trashing it. But now, I'm not so sure. For now it can sit in a bag under the bed.

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Secondly, the proponents and people who would find the Apple 2 series stuff valuable are dying off and the young crowd is just not into retrocomputing.

Judging by some of the people here, other forums, and on youtube...

I'm not sure I agree with that statement.. There are a fair amount of "young crowd" retro fans..

 

And, especially when it comes to collectibles..

That's like saying the value of arrowheads is going down because the people who used them aren't around anymore?????

 

Not buying it.. ;-)

 

desiv

Edited by desiv
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I'm also not sure that anything from the 2 series is really collectible yet either. Other than a select number of plain II's with integer basic and perhaps the Apple I. There has to be a mass purging by the recyclers before the value of 2 series increases. Just like what's going on with pentium systems now.

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//e, baby! A notable classic from the days when computers had "personality!" What every kid who grew up in the late 70s/early 80s wanted (from using one at school) but couldn't afford. Had many days or years "in the sun."

 

 

The other is just an outdated Wintel box, lost in the shuffle of other outdated Wintel boxes that suck a little more (older) or just a little less (newer/faster) but well-within the zone of suck. Had only a day or 2 "in the sun" before the owner wanted something similar but better (Pentium/etc).

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I'm also not sure that anything from the 2 series is really collectible yet either. Other than a select number of plain II's with integer basic and perhaps the Apple I. There has to be a mass purging by the recyclers before the value of 2 series increases. Just like what's going on with pentium systems now.

 

Somehow I think the mass purging of Apple II's has long since occurred. I get the feeling that after the schools dumped them en mass in the early/mid 90s for Macs and beige Wintel boxes a good chunk of them headed off to the scrap heap. At that time they were just seen as old computers, beyond the few early models that were bound to be collectibles because of their manufacture date.

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Now I'm talking about the mass purging from hobbyists.

It also seems that when I try to determine the value of my Apple 2 series stuff, online, through discussion forums, it seems there's always a few crankly loudmouths that say its worth little to nothing. To that I respond that then it must be trash, ready for the recycling bin, then I get criticized for throwing out old computer stuff (which I have done to literally tons of PC crap). Ahh you can't win.

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I picked up a couple of non-working Mac SE's (for parts) from a local recycler last week and was asking him about Apple 2 stuff and why he hasn't had any in 4+ years. He told me that he has a "special local buyer" that purchases any and all Apple 2 things that he gets and pays top dollar for it, more than he'd typically get on eBay.

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Yes, those "loudmouths" you refer to Keetah don't make them right. I'm actually acquiring two Apple//'s shortly, and e and a yet to be determined Apple ][ varient, and most definitely content to be doing so.

 

I however, won't be acquiring, or wanting to acquire, any old 486s, even though I worked for Gateway2000 during that era.

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DOSBox + PC standards make the 486 barely worth keeping around.

It's interesting tho..

There is great emulation for both ends...

x86 users want to relive their past and they play those games on Dosbox and are happy. They buy them on GOG.

And they are usually done. Very very very rarely have I heard of someone that did that, and then said "I have to get an only PC to play these.."

 

But, you get people who used to have Apples and they use AppleWin or whatever.. Get back into the old games.. And quite often, they get more nostalgic and buy the old computers..

 

For whatever reason, the x86 machines just don't drive that type of "attachment" that some of the other systems do.... The games might, but the systems don't.

 

Maybe it's the upgrade path.. Maybe x86 users went from DOS to Win to Win9x to XP etc and it "felt" like it was all the same, even tho they went thru 6 hardware changes to get there... They don't feel tied to the old PC because they have the current version.

 

Whereas, the Apple II is NOT the Mac running System. The Mac running System is NOT OSX.

 

To the x86 user, the old PC is just an older version of what's on their desk now.

To the Apple fan, the new Mac (or PC) on their desk is not the Apple II...

 

Or not, who knows.. ;-)

 

desiv

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So when an Apple //e dies it takes everything to the grave with it. You need another //e from the same time period, with the same hardware config.

 

When a PC dies, you go to BigBox and buy a new one. And swap your software over. As long as it says x86 and USB, you're good to go. All your stuff will work on it.

 

Yes, my current PC is a current version! That makes a lot of sense.

Edited by Keatah
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So when an Apple //e dies it takes everything to the grave with it.

Yeah, but how often does that happen?

I've gone through several x86 motherboards (CAPS, PSUs, etc)..

 

The Apple IIe and IIc are still running..

 

;-)

 

desiv

Edited by desiv
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The Apple II and II+ are all standard logic chips for the most part. Same goes for the clones from the same time period like the Franklin Ace.

They should be repairable as long as you can buy TTL chips and the motherboard doesn't get melted.

Power supplies, RAM, ROMs, keyboard chips, and I/O slots are most likely to go.

 

The IIe and later have some custom chips and if those go, you are doing a board or machine swap. Short of that you can still replace a lot of parts though.

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I'm wondering if I should continue considering my Apple /// stuff as part of my Apple 2 series collection or not. If not then I'd separate it out and dispose of it on epay or something similar.

They are about as reliable as the first gen XBOX 360 and they bring a pretty good price from collectors.

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I'm wondering if I should continue considering my Apple /// stuff as part of my Apple 2 series collection or not. If not then I'd separate it out and dispose of it on epay or something similar.

They are about as reliable as the first gen XBOX 360 and they bring a pretty good price from collectors.

 

Yes! That would sound right. In my collection, now, I've got a few things like the business basic, sos, manuals, some docs, some word processor thing, cobol, some copied disks, not a lot.. 3 profiles, of which are questionably serviceable. a /// that is missing keyboard keys, a very nice /// with cleaned and reseated chips. A monitor ///, 3 external disks. serial, parallel profile innerface card, a good condition ///+ (needs to be tested again, but should be fine as it was before.), some other odds and ends.

 

Franklin's Ace, haven't heard that thumb print monstrosity in a long time!

 

what is that? good god!

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Franklin's Ace, haven't heard that thumb print monstrosity in a long time!

 

what is that? good god!

Yeah, I have no idea what that means either.

 

I always thought the Franklin Ace 1000 was one of the best Apple IIs to have. It had a better power supply than the II+, a fan, a numeric keypad, a separate reset button (ok, occasionally a curse), it still uses standard logic chips, the language card was built onto the motherboard, and it's probably still cheaper to buy than a II+.

If Apple hadn't gone with the III, the II+ would probably have had similar motherboard changes before the IIe release.

Once you get to the IIe, you might as well go all the way to the IIgs because you've gone to custom chips.

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